Floor polisher with motor mounted on a pivoted handle



c. D. BERGER 3,518,712

FLOOR POLISHER WITH MOTOR MOUNTED ON A PIVO'I'ED HANDLE July 7, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 21, 1968 Fig.|

y 7, 1970 c. D. BERGER 3,518,712

FLOOR POLISHER WITH MOTOR MOUNTED ON A PIVOTED HANDLE Filed May 21, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,518,712 FLOOR POLISHER WITH MOTOR MOUNTED ON A PIVOTED HANDLE Christian D. Berger, North Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 21, 1968, Ser. No. 730,784 Int. Cl. A47! 11/16 US. Cl. 15-49 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A floor polisher having main body with a pair of brushes rotatable on vertical axes. A handle pivoted to the main body has an electric motor mounted on it, and the motor is drivingly connected with the brushes. The drive from the motor to the brushes on the main body is arranged so that optimum driving engagement exists regardless of the pivoted position of the handle. The brushes have rigid back portions with upwardly facing drive teeth integrally formed on the peripheral area of the upper face.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This in vention relates to the floor cleaning and polishing art wherein a motor-driven polishing element engages the floor for polishing or scrubbing.

Prior art attemps at very low height floor polishers having handle mounted motors have not been perfectly successful and have not driven vertical axes brushes directly on the brush back. Driving vertical axes brushes through gearing spaced above the brush back requires considerable height for the main body portion. Having the handle pivoted on the same horizontal axis as a jack shaft driving the brushes allows the handle to be pivoted without requiring any universal joint or the like.

SUMMARY A floor polisher with a handle mounted motor has a belt drive from the motor to a jack shaft on the main body. The handle is pivoted to the main body on the same horizontal axis as the jack shaft so driving connection is maintained in any pivoted position of the handle. Vertical axes brushes have teeth integrally formed on the upper surface of rigid brush backs so that very low height is achieved. The jack shaft on the main body includes a pulley which extends down between the peripheries of a pair of vertical axes brushes to achieve a speed reduction while maintaining low height.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a floor polisher embodying the present invention with the lower portion in section taken on line 1-1 of FIG. 3 and with tilted positions of the handle shown in dotted lines.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 3 with portions omitted and cut away for clarity, and

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the floor polisher of FIG. 1 with portions cut away for clarity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a floor polisher including a main body portion 1 and a handle portion 2. Main body portion 1 includes a casting 3 and an appearance housing 4. Main casting 3 has a pair of brushes 5 and 6 rotatably mounted thereon in a well known manner. Brushes 5 and 6 may be mounted on shafts which rotate on main casting 3 or the brushes may rotate on shafts which are fixed to the main casting.

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Each brush has a rigid back portion 7 and 8 including upper and lower substantially plane faces. Brush bristles 9 are secured to the rigid back portions and extend downwardly from the lower faces. The upper face has gear teenth 10 integrally formed on the peripheral portion thereof. Brush backs 7 and 8 may be molded with integral teeth 10 of any suitable synthetic plastic material or metal.

Main casting 3 includes supports 11 and 12 which mount a horizontal shaft 13. Shaft 13 has a pair of gears 14 and 15 along with a pulley 16 rotatably mounted thereon. Pulley 16 and gears 14 and 15 are secured together to rotate as one unit. Gears 14 and 15 drivingly engage teeth 10 on brush backs 7 and 8.

Handle portion 2 includes a bail portion 17 on which an electric motor 18 is mounted by bolts as at 19 and bracket 20. Motor 18 includes a drive shaft raving a drive pulley 21 on the end thereof. The motor shaft and pulley 21 are preferably located at the rear of the handle. As shown in FIG. 3, the motor 18 is centrally mounted with respect to handle 2 and the motor shaft carrying the pulley 21 is substantially perpendicular to the handle 2. (See FIG. 1.)

A flexible continuous belt 22 is drivingly connected from pulley 21 to pulley 16. Bail 17 is pivotally connected to main casting 3 as at points 23 and 24 which lie on a horizontal axis coincidental with the axis of brush drive shaft 13. By having bail 17 pivoted on the same horizontal axis as the longitudinal axis of pulley 16, it is possible to tilt the handle to different positions as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1 without interfering with the drive connection from motor to main body.

Brushes 5 and 6 are spaced apart slighty as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 so that pulley 16 can extend down between the peripheries of the brushes. Electric motor 18 is high speed for economy of size and cost so that speed reduction is required in the drive system. The driving connection between pulleys 16 and 21 defines one speed reduction, while the driving connection between gears 14 and 15 and teeth 10 defines another speed reduction.

In this manner pulley 16 can be quite large in diameter without taking up much height because it extends down between the brushes. With a two-brush polisher as shown, the rotational axes of brushes 5 and 6 lie in a common plane which is coincidental with the rotational axes of pulley 16 and the pivoted axis of handle bail 17.

It is possible to have a friction drive on the top peripheral portion of the brush backs although drive teeth as shown are preferable. Rather than having rotatable brushes, it is possible to incorporate features of this invention into a polisher having orbital brushes.

While only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it is for illustrative purposes only and is not to be taken in a limiting sense. The invention includes all equivalent constructions and is limited only by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A floor polishing and scrubbing device comprising;

(a) a main body portion,

(b) brush means movably mounted on said main body portion on a substantially vertical axis, said brush means having a rigid back portion with upper and lower faces, brush bristles secured to said rigid back portion and projecting downwardly from said lower face,

(c) elongated handle means pivotally connected to said main body portion on a first horizontal axis, said first horizontal axis located above said brush means,

(d) brush drive means rotatably mounted on said main body portion on a second horizontal axis, said first and second horizontal axis being substantially coincidental,

(e) electric motor means mounted on said handle means, said motor means mounted centrally on said handle means with the shaft of said electric motor means substantially perpendicular to said handle means, and,

(f) belt means drivingly connecting said motor means with said brush drive means.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said belt driving connection between said motor means and said brush drive means is centrally located with respect to said elongated handle means and defines a first speed reduction and said driving connection between said brush drive means and said brush means defines a second speed reduction, said elongated handle means having pivotal movement from a vertical to a substantially horizontal position.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said brush means is rotatably mounted on said main body portion and said brush means has drive surface means on the peripheral portion of said upper face, said brush drive means being drivingly connected with said drive surface means.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said rigid back portion of said brush means has upwardly facing drive teeth integrally formed on the peripheral portion of said upper face.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein there are a pair of brushes rotatably mounted on said main body portion and said brush drive means includes a pulley extending downwardly between the peripheral edges of said rigid back portions of said brush means.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said rigid back portions of said brush means have upwardly facing drive teeth integrally formed on the peripheral area of said rear faces and said pair of brushes are rotatable on axes lying in a common plane which is substantially coincidental with said first and second horizontal axes.

7. A floor polishing and scrubbing device comprising;

(a) a main body portion,

(b) a pair of spaced apart vertical shaft means attached to said main body portion at a first mounting connection,

(c) a pair of brush means attached to said shaft means at a second mounting connection, one of said first and second mounting connections being a rotatable connection,

(d) said brush means having rigid circular back portions with front and rear faces ,brush bristles secured to said rigid back portions and projecting downwardly from said front faces,

(e) elongated handle means pivotally connected with said main body portion on a first horizontal axis, said first horizontal axis located above said brush means,

(f) brush drive means rotatably mounted on said main body portion on a second horizontal axis and being drivingly connected with said brush means, said first and second horizontal axis being substantially coincidental, said brush drive means including a circular drive wheel projecting downwardly between the peripheral edges of said rigid back portions of said pair of brush means,

(g) electric motor means mounted on said handle means, and

(h) a driving connection between said motor and said drive wheel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,594,685 8/1926 Osius 15-377 X FOREIGN PATENTS 346,484 4/ 1931 Great Britain. 520,608 4/1940 Great Britain. 249,324 4/ 1948 Switzerland.

ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 15-385 

